


A Walk in the Country (aka Danny and Rusty get lost)

by kakotheres



Series: Just Write! Fluff Bingo 2019 [11]
Category: Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: Banter, Fluff, Gen, Short One Shot, Walk in the Country
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-22 20:14:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19991911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kakotheres/pseuds/kakotheres
Summary: Danny and Rusty get lost. That pretty much sums up what little plot there is.





	A Walk in the Country (aka Danny and Rusty get lost)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Just Write! Discord server, Fluff Bingo 2019.  
> Prompt: Walk in the Country.

“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto.”

“No shit.” Danny looked around at the landscape that surrounded them. There was nothing but lush greenery as far as the eye could see, broken occasionally by a tall tree. Rolling hills were crisscrossed with white picket fence lines. Far off in the distance, he could make out the shape of a group of young horses quietly grazing at the top of one hill. A few small white clouds drifted across the bright blue sky above them, a gentle breeze pushing them along their way. He took in a deep breath, letting the sweet smell of the grass drift across his senses.

Rusty leaned down and plucked a small flower from the grass, bringing it up to eye level. “On the plus side, I think we lost them.” He placed the stalk between his teeth, shifting his jaw and making the flower bounce up and down.

“Lost who?” Danny asked.

“Those guys.” Rusty put his hands on his hips.

“What guys?” Danny was pretty sure he’d missed something in this conversation.

“The guys we were trying to lose.”

Danny quirked an eyebrow. “Pretty sure they were just going to ask you to sign their petition.”

“I know. That’s why we needed to lose them.” Rusty tilted his head back, the flower somehow still balanced between his teeth. “Never get involved in politics, my friend. You don’t know where that’ll lead.”

Danny sighed. “Are you telling me we just drove fifty miles into the countryside, ditched four cars, and ruined my shoes all because you don’t know how to say no to someone with a clipboard?”

“Pretty much. On the plus side, those shoes were really ugly.”

Danny sighed. This was going to be a very long day.

*****

“That’s probably not a good sign,” Danny said, pointing to the large birds circling above them. There were five or six birds, slowly drifting through the sky above them. “Think those buzzards are anticipating us dying here.”

Rusty squinted up at them. “Don’t think there are buzzards in Kentucky, Danny. Think that’s more of an Out West, dusty prairie and tumbleweeds kind of a thing.”

“Then you tell me, oh wise Mr. Bird Brain, what are those giant birds up there, if they’re not buzzards?” Danny shuddered as one of the large birds made a wide circle directly over their heads. “Buzzards waiting for us to die out here in the middle of nowhere.”

“Probably black vultures. They’re native to this state, you know,” Rusty said calmly, seemingly unconcerned by the terrible omens surrounding them. Danny was only as superstitious as any good conman should be, but large groups of birds freaked him out. Rusty, the bastard, enjoyed antagonizing him over it, often tossing bits of whatever food he had on him to any pigeons or seagulls that were nearby.

Danny shuddered. “First off, great, vultures. Much better than buzzards -”

“Actually,” Rusty interrupted, “in the US, ‘buzzards’ usually refers to turkey vultures. Which are, you know, vultures. So not that different, really.”

Danny ignored him. “Second, why on earth do you know that?”

“I’m a very well-read man, you know.” Rusty stretched.

“I hate you.”

*****

“We’re definitely lost,” Rusty said. “Even the vultures have abandoned us.”

“I blame your navigation skills,” Danny responded.

“Ouch.” Rusty faked an exaggerated wince. “And here I was just thinking about how at least it’s been a pleasant chance to spend some time with my best friend out in the fresh air.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, there’s no one else I’d rather be lost with.” Danny looked over at Rusty.

Rusty looked thoughtful. “Personally, I think I’d prefer one of those extreme survivalist type people instead.”

“Extreme survivalists?” Danny asked.

“You know, like on tv.” Rusty waved his hands at the air in front of him, apparently making some kind of point. “They get dropped into the middle of nowhere and have to survive off the land for weeks, all while it’s being filmed for the folks back home.”

“You watch way too much television, Rus.”

Rusty ignored him. “Or maybe a Boy Scout. They’d be a lot more useful than you are in this particular situation.”

“I was a Boy Scout! For like a week.” Danny felt his face pulling into a pout.

“Uh-huh.”

Danny cocked his head to the side. “It was to impress a girl.”

“Uh-huh.”

Danny sighed. “It didn’t work. The whole not-lying part was way too hard. Especially since I lied about my name on the signup form.”

Rusty chuckled. “Plus, there’s the manual labor aspect.”

“Ha-ha.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes.

“Bet Linus was a Boy Scout,” Danny remarked.

“Think we should give him a call?” Rusty looked at him, and the two shared a grin.

*****

“Linus?”

“Danny? What’s going on?” Linus sounded very concerned. That was nice.

“Were you ever a Boy Scout?”

“What? Are you drunk?” Now Linus sounded very annoyed. That was familiar.

“Nope, just having a stroll through the countryside, talking with Rusty and we were curious. So, were you?”

“Yes, my dad made me.” Danny could almost see Linus pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “But seriously, why did you call me? Where are you right now?”

“Pretty sure it’s Kansas.”

“Kentucky,” Rusty corrected from beside him.

“Right, not Kansas. Kentucky. There are horses.” Danny paused. “Also, we’re definitely lost.”

“That’s…honestly not remotely surprising. Is there something I can do to help? I’m doing a thing right now, but I could probably get out of it without too much trouble.”

“Nah, it’s fine. We’ll figure it out. But while I have you on the line, how do the next few months look for you?”

“Not bad, why?”

“Got something in mind. We’ll be in touch.”

“What-” Danny hung up the phone, cutting Linus off mid-question. He turned to Rusty. “Maybe we should try stealing a horse. Also, we need to plan a job involving Linus.”

“Pretty sure that’s what got us into this mess in the first place.”

“Horses?”

“Linus.”

*****

“I think we’ve been on this hill before,” Rusty said, contemplating the landscape in front of them.

Danny stared at him. “How can you tell? It’s all the exact same.”

“This grass is the same color as that hill we were on an hour ago.” He squinted his eyes. “Sort of a pickle color.”

“It’s green.”

“It’s a very distinct green.”

“You’re so full of shit.”

*****

A few miles and a lot of grumping later, they finally came across a larger road and hitched a ride with a passing 18-wheeler. The truck driver had given them a look, taking in their disheveled suits and wet shoes, but had let them hop up into the cab without comment. He dropped them off near the airport a few hours later, shaking his head at ‘city boys’. These two hadn’t been too bad though.

“Ready to head back to civilization?”

“God yes. If I never see another blade of grass, it will be too soon.”

“Vegas it is, then.”


End file.
